Countdown
by Butterflygrin
Summary: It has been 7 years since the legendary Sannin prevent one of the biggest disaster in Konoha History. Unfortunately, the story was left unfinished and Konoha was threatened once again by some massive plot and massive destruction. This time, it was up to team 7 to prevent it. After all, the countdown that was set 7 years ago had just begun.


Disclaimer: I do not own naruto and its characters. I own the plot though.

 **Countdown**

 _"_ _Ninja who break the rules are trash, but ninja who abandon his teammates are worse than trash."—Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha_

Chapter I Team Seven! First Mission!

 _It was a peaceful morning, clear sky, birds singing, and Kakashi Hatake was still peacefully sleeping on his bed._

 _Knock Knock_

 _"_ _Nii-san, wake up! You need to go to work!" a voice of a girl was heard from behind the door._

 _"_ _Five more... minutes.. Kura..." Kakashi mumbled insignificantly and went back to his dream land._

 _"_ _Nii-san, you've promised Teuchi-jii to go to the market with him this morning!" the voice yelled behind the door._

 _"_ _What... five more minutes... then..." Kakashi went back to sleep again._

 _"_ _Geez, Kakashi-nii... what did you do last night anyway?" the girl grumbled annoyedly and opened Kakashi's room door. She entered and stared at the sleeping Kakashi, annoyed. She was going to yell at him when she saw a piece of paper on Kakashi's bed, near his head. Curious, she stepped forward and snacthed the paper. 'What's this?' she raised one of her hairbrows up, not quite understand with what was written on the paper._

 _"_ _Hibiki..." she read out loud. "Hmm...? this one's crossed?" she questioned herself._

 _"_ _Hatake...this one is crossed too." She muttered. "Isn't this Kakashi-nii's last name?" she questioned herself once again._

 _"_ _Yamato...crossed."_

 _"_ _Shiroki...crossed."_

 _"_ _Hmm... too many were crossed...what is this actually?" Sakura questioned herself. She was curious and scanned the paper until she found the last words that Kakashi had written. "Haruno...Haruno Sakura..." she was still confused until she felt that someone was staring at her. She stared dumbfoundedly at the now-wake-up-horror-stricken Kakashi. She snapped back into reality and asked worriedly, "Kakashi-nii, what's the meaning of this?" she asked._

 _Kakashi was about to wake up when Sakura entered his room, but he was too tired because he slept late last night. So he slept again and didn't realize that the paper near his head had been snatched by Sakura. His sleep was disturbed once again when he heard his little sister read something out loud. He rubbed his eyes and got up slowly. He was stretching his body when he realized the paper on his bed had gone, then he looked at Sakura. His expression was that of utter shock and horror. When sakura had asked him about the paper, he gulped. "Sakura, I hope you are not angry about this..." He braced himself for the explanation. "Tomorrow is your birthday and we have lived together for a year already. You do not have any last name and I thought to give you one, as a birthday gift." He smiled nervously. "Haru no Sakura. Cherry blossom of the spring. Do you like it?" Kakashi asked her little sister anxiously. He knew he had no rights to give her her last name, it was her name, she could not be forced to change it._

 _Sakura was speechless. Kakashi, her brother for this past one year had tried to give her an unexpected birthday gift. She never got any birthday gift before and this made her happy. A last name. To her, last name was not important. She didn't ever thought to have one actually. But the last name that her brother gave her was beautiful, like it actually belonged to her name from the beginning. "I like it Nii-san... Arigato!" She bowed as to thank her brother._

 _"_ _Now, now, Sakura-chan... don't bow like I was way much older than you!" Kakashi warned. "I'm not old, you know... despite my hair..." He sighed dejectedly._

 _"_ _Oh, come on Nii-san... don't be such a child!" Sakura scolded. "I've prepared the breakfast, let's eat." Sakura added and turned to go to the dining room._

 _"_ _At least she didn't call me old like the last time..." Kakashi said to himself before taking out his favorite orange book from the drawer beside his bed and followed his litlle sister to the dining room._

* * *

Seven years later, present time.

Tsunade sat behind her big wooden work desk, her hands moved swiftly on the keyboard of her laptop. Her facial expression was serious and full of concentration. Her long blonde hair was put up into a messy bun, leaving only a few strands to frame her face. Her face was covered by light make ups, pink lipstick and pink blush on. Despite of her age, she still looked young, almost the same as seven years ago. She was wearing a chocholate V-neck sleeveless top and black pants. Her blazer was put on her seat back, indicating she had used it to a meeting that day and would use it again later.

Knock Knock

Tsunade didn't stop from her work and shouted a 'come in' to whoever was behind her door.

A pink haired girl about eighteen years old opened the door carefully and stepped into the room before closing the door back. Her forest green eyes wandered into the room she had visited too many times to be counted. Her short pink hair was adorned with a simple white round hairpin. She wore a light green T-shirt with 'I Love Earth' written boldly in black onto it and a pair of white shorts that reached her knees. A pair of white and pink sneakers complimented her simple appearance. "You called me, Tsunade-shishou?" she asked a blonde woman behind the desk, indicating she had no idea why she was called in the first place.

"Didn't Kakashi tell you?" Tsunade asked back and raised one of her eyebrows.

Sakura instantly shook her head, "No, he only told me to meet you at ten o'clock sharp. So, here I am." She replied casually.

"Well, you'll meet your teammates today, Sakura." Tsunade eyed her pupil and pulled a file from under her desk. She handed it to Sakura. "Put this on the fifth row in the right shelf. You don't have to help me on paper works today. I'll call Shizune later to deal with them." She went back to type something on her keyboard.

Without another words, Sakura did what Tsunade told her to do. Just as she finished putting the file in the designated place, a knock was heard from the door.

"Come in." Tsunade stated and wordlessly back to what she was doing before.

The door was opened and a dark haired boy about Sakura's age came in calmly. The back part of his hair was spiked that it looked like a chicken's butt. His eyes were onyx and calm. he wore a pair of glasses that had sleek and black frame, in one word, stylish. He wore a white T-shirt and black pants with blue sneakers. It was like he didn't even care what he wears, save for the stylish black glasses. As long as it was appropriate, it was enough.

The dark haired boy was going to close the door when a blonde haired boy bursted in. "Wait!" A blonde haired boy ran through the door and stopped right in front of Tsunade's work desk. His blonde hair was randomly spiked. His blue eyes was full of spirit, despite he was just rushing like a mad man just now, he didn't seem tired at all. He wore an orange T-shirt covered by simple yet stylish black sleeveless hoodies and black pants with orange sneakers. This one though, seemed to be really care with his appearance by looking at how he dressed right now. "Am I late?" He asked to no one in particular.

"Yes. You are late one minute, Uzumaki." Tsunade looked up from her laptop and glared annoyedly at the blonde boy. "Everyone's here, we can start now." Tsunade dropped her glare and got up from her seat.

Sakura and the black haired boy instantly walked towards the blonde boy in front of Tsunade's work desk and each one of them stood beside the blonde boy's side.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" Tsunade called. Her tone was strict, yet wise at the same time.

Sakura looked at Naruto and felt something familiar about him. But she could not find what it was.

"Hai!" the blonde haired boy replied with spirit and determination shone in his eyes.

"Uchiha Sasuke!" Tsunade called again. Her tone was a little bit clipped this time. Her eyes looked indifferent but there was something else that only the ones who close enough with her who could see it. Regret and anxiety at the same time.

Sakura saw this and she knew something was wrong. 'Maybe Tsunade-shishou was just tired...' She thought, reassuring herself. But, she couldn't help but think again. 'Uchiha... maybe Tsunade-shishou was not just tired...'

"Hai." The dark haired boy replied calmly.

"Sakura Haruno!" Tsunade called her pupil's name strictly yet, proud was shown clearly on her eyes. She certainly didn't feel proud that easy.

"Hai." Sakura replied determinedly. She saw the proud in her shishou's eyes and she didn't have any plan to disappoint her, ever.

"Hereby, as the head of K.A.I I announce you. Three of you now are official members of Konoha Agency of Investigation." Tsunade announced proudly. "As you have already known, before you could take any solo or duo missions, you will be placed under a three man team." Tsunade smiled and continued, "Three of you now will work together under the same team, team seven." Tsunade eyed her new accomplices one by one. "Welcome to K.A.I, team seven." She finished and sat back on her seat behind her work desk. "Your first mission will be handed in tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Just wait the call. I'll give three of you free time today, so go ahead and do whatever a team supposed to do. Any questions?" She raised an eyebrow while expecting a question.

"I have a question, Shishou." Sakura raised her hand, but she felt Sasuke's strange gaze on her. She decided to ignore this though.

"Yes?"

"Do we have any limitation in using the training fields?"

"No, use them as you wish, but do not destroy them. Anymore questions?" the three of them shook their heads. "Good. Dismissed." Tsunade finished and went back to her work.

Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto turned around and went out of the room one by one. After Naruto closed the door, they walked down the hall and went into the lift. No one protested when Sakura pressed down the GF button in the lift. There was silent agreement they had to get out from the headquarter building first if they want to talk casually as a team. "So, any idea where to went guys?" Sakura asked at the time they reached the ground floor.

"I know a nice cafe for talks." Sasuke suggested.

"Hmm... okay, I prefer Ichiraku but only this time it's okay..." Naruto agreed like he could actually decide where they would be going.

"Your direction then, Sas-Uchiha-san..." Sakura was not really sure what to call him. She knew eventually they had to call each other with their given names, not family names, but she was a polite person and she had to call people by their family names first if they had not given her any permission to do otherwise.

"Sasuke is fine, Sakura-san." Sasuke replied curtly.

"So, how did you guys get here in the first place? Car or bus?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"Bus." Sasuke and Sakura simultaneously answered their new teammate's question. They looked at each other for a second then the next they looked away, embarrassed.

"Heheheh." Naruto laughed happily. "Come on, I'll drive you there!" he instantly grabbed Sasuke and Sakura's arm then dragged them to the parking lot where his orange-black bugatti veyron located.

When they arrived in front of Naruto's car, Sakura and Sasuke was shocked though Sasuke's expression didn't really change. Sakura was sure she didn't know much about car but she knew enough about few of the fastest car in the world. And that car was stood proudly in front of her. Moreover the fact that it was Naruto's, she didn't expect to have a teammate who had something as... as spectacular as this. 'This also means he's an expert driver...' she thought.

Sasuke had to scrutinized the car like it had something suspicious on it. He didn't belive one of the fastest car stood in front of him. He knew how this car works. He was not a technician expert but he learned a few about machines like cars and planes. He knew the machine in front of him was amazing.

"Like it? He's my buddy since I was in highschool!" Naruto announced proudly, a large smile etched on his face. "Come on, get in guys! We have place we must go!" he shouted cheerfully.

Too fascinated with the car, even both Sakura and Sasuke didn't realize that Naruto had just talked with volume that had deafening ability. They would realize it later though.

Sasuke made his wat towards the front passenger seat and put on the seat belt. Sakura got into the back passenger seat and closed the door. They was welcomed by the cool air conditioner and soft, comfortable leather covered seat. The interior design was sophisticated. Sakura didn't think there was actually a car like this. Sasuke, having drived many expensive cars knew that the sophisticated interior was not originally made by the car's manufacturer. "Who designed the interior, Naruto-san?" Sasuke asked politely.

"Heheheh, my friend Sai designed it but I modified it by myself!" Naruto answered cheerfully, pride clearly shown in his voice.

"Cool Naruto-san." Sakura complimented and smiled.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan!" Naruto scratched the back of his head and smiled embarassedly. Who would've thought the most beautiful girl he ever met would compliment him like that. Sure he was kind of popular in his highschool but, he always chose his friends carefully, being the Hokage's son rarely made people would be your friends sincerely. He knew Sakura's smile was sincere just now.

Sakura was about to protest Naruto when he called her with 'chan' suffix but she decided against it when she saw Naruto smiled back at her.

"Now, you'll see one of my skill. Heheheh." Naruto laughed mischievously. He started the car's engine and drove it backward. After he had got out from the parking lot, he sped his car to the street. It was fairly crowded, many cars and motorcycles were moving on the street. He focused his eyes and increased the car's speed while he was maneuvering the car to evade another vehicles with high agility. His usually cheerful facade was gone, replaced by serious yet relaxed features.

Sakura watched in awe as Naruto 'swam' skillfully through the crowded street. She thought she would watch more surprises from her teammates. It seemed Tsunade had a really high standards in recruiting her accomplices.

Sasuke observed carefully how Naruto drive, as if he tried to memorized Naruto's style of driving. Sasuke admitted that Naruto's skill of driving was exceptional but it seemed that he had some other interesting plan on his mind as he observed his teammate carefully once again, noting every little detail onto his head.

"On that intersection, turn right Naruto." Sasuke pointed to the intersection in front of them. He decided to drop the suffix since he heard Naruto called Sakura way too casually. Seeing how Naruto drive and his wildness in driving, he knew Naruto didn't capable of driving only. Thus he acknowledged that Naruto had some skill. Arrogant as it seemed, he still needed people who could be on par with him if he wanted to reach his purpose. "On the next intersection just go straight." He instructed and looked at his other teammate through the rear-view mirror. His expression was unreadable. He heard that Sakura had called their boss as 'Shishou' meaning she was their boss' apprentice. He knew Tsunade was one of three legendary agents that once had saved Konoha from a great crisis. What kind of crisis, he didn't really knew but he was sure Tsunade wouldn't just pick random people to be her apprentice. "That's the cafe." He stated and pointed a beautiful brown building a few meters ahead.

Naruto skillfully reduce his speed and turned right, entering the parking lot of the cafe. "Here we are!" he announced cheerfully. The three got out from the car and went into the cafe. 'Akimichi Cafe n' Dine' was carved beautifully on a wood plank above the entrance door.

"I've never been here before..." Sakura murmured to herself. Her eyes taking in the beautiful design of the cafe. The place was dominated by soft wood-like colour with a little touch of cream and magenta here and there. The lighting was set a little dim but still comfortable enough for you to read. And the music was jazz and classic, designed to boost the comfort of the place.

"You'll like it here. Helps me relax." Sasuke responded quietly, walking to a four-tabled seats at the back of the cafe.

"Hmm. The music makes me feel sleepy..." Naruto commented, following Sasuke who had already seated at the back of the cafe.

When the three of them had finally seated, a waitress with a nametag 'Moegi' approached them. "Welcome to Akimichi Cafe! What can I do for you?" she cheerfully handed the menus to the trio and smiled. She eyed Sasuke then Naruto and blushed. Sasuke seemed to ignore her as if it was usual occurence meanwhile Naruto was oblivious to his surrounding, he eyed the menu far too seriously.

"I'll have one cappucino, please." Sakura said politely and gave the menu back to the waitress.

"Alright! One cappucino. Um..." she trailed and blushed when she eyed the other two boys.

"One tomato juice." Sasuke spoke curtly.

"One coke, i guess..." Naruto added and gave his and Sasuke's menu back to the waitress.

"One cappucino, one tomato juice, and one coke. Will be shortly served in a few minutes! If you want to add something just call me, Moegi!" she bowed and retreated to what seemed like the cafe's kitchen.

"It seems like both of you have a fan..." Sakura said playfully and grinned.

"She's always like that since I started to come here." Sasuke replied casually.

"Fan? You mean the waitress likes me? That's because I'm cool!" Naruto proudly stated.

Sakura rolled her eyes and Sasuke just stared at him like he had grown a second head. "You're not cool, Naruto-san." He stated matter-of-factly.

"What? What did you say? Take that back!" Naruto yelled at Sasuke seriously.

"Guys..."

"Why would I take that back?" Sasuke started to lose his respect towards Naruto.

"Because what you said is not true, of course! Are you stupid?" Naruto folded his arms on his chest.

"I'm not stupid... you... you... dobe!" Sasuke was practically lost his cool and yelled back.

"Guys...!"

"What did you say?! You teme!" Naruto shot back. Both of them were standing and glared each other fiercely.

Sakura was irritated. She had tried to call them and they didn't even listen, yet answered her. "Enough, both of you!" she abruptly stood up and slammed her hand on the table, resulting a 'crack' sound to be heard from the impact. At the same instant, both Naruto and Sasuke instantly looked at Sakura, then the table and cowered in fear. Not that they showed it in front of her, but their eyes were enough proof. "Sit down. Now!" she ordered annoyedly. The boys were not stupid, they certainly didn't want to be in the same place as the table which already broke in half because of Sakura's fist. And so, they instantly sat down on their respective chair. "Now, now, both of you will shake hands, right?" Sakura suddenly smiled with malice laced on her beautiful face.

Naruto and Sasuke gulped and reluctantly shake hands. "Both of you will pay. For my drink _and_ for the table." Sakura said cheerfully and called the waitress to clean up the mess and change the table for a new one.

* * *

"I can't believe this!" Sakura yelled frustratedly at Kakashi. They were sitting on the couch in living room, eating dinner.

Kakashi looked at Sakura and raised an eyebrow. "Now, now, Sakura... having a bad day?" Kakashi asked amusedly. He took a chopstick on the coffe table and began eating his pasta.

"You know, Kakashi, don't you dare look happy while I'm totally pissed off." Sakura glared at Kakashi, making him stop eating and put his pasta on the coffe table in front of him.

"You know, I always liked the way you got angry at me, Sakura." He stated cheerfully. He didn't wear his usual eyepatch, showing his other red eye he usually kept hidden. He never showed his other eye to anyone, save for Sakura, his little sister.

"Geez, stop with the teasing already." Sakura pulled her knees to her chest, eyeing her pasta on the coffe table distastefully.

"You can always tell me what ever it is that make you so angry, you know." Kakashi said, looking concerned. He put his right hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"It's my team! We were just sitting at the cafe for five damn minutes, Kakashi! Five damn minutes! And I already had broken our table into half! They are hating each other! How will we do our missions?!" Sakura rambled and yelled frustratedly.

"It's okay, Sakura. You can always be their mediator." Kakashi smiled at Sakura. "It was like that too with my team, you know. Except, Rin didn't break a table." Kakashi looked away and smiled sadly. Sorrow and emptiness started to fill his mismatched eyes. His memories of his past flooded him until his body become stiff.

"Kakashi..." Sakura hugged him and said, "You do not need to talk about it you know. I'm sorry, Kakashi. I'm sorry." Sakura said softly. She knew, Kakashi didn't like to talk about his past. Especially his teammates. He had lost everything he have a long time ago, family, friends, and teammates. Moreover, Sakura knew, he always blamed himself for not competent enough to protect them. She didn't want to see Kakashi sad just because he tried to comfort her.

Kakashi's body began to relax slowly because of Sakura's embrace. However, he felt wrong to show his weakness to his little sister who had her own problems. Even if Sakura was the only person alive whom he showed his weakness to, Sakura had her own problems at that time. It was like he failed to be a good big brother to her. "No. I am sorry Sakura. I can't be a good big brother for you." Kakashi said sadly.

"You're a good big brother, Kakashi. As your sister, I will support you too!" Sakura said determinedly. "Promise me you won't lie when you have problems, will you?" Sakura release her hug and showed her little finger to Kakashi. "Pinky promise?"

"Only if you do the same, Sakura." Kakashi smiled and linked their little finger together.

"Of course, Kakashi." Sakura said with a smile. "Come on, the delicious pasta you made has frozen!" Sakura said cheerfully and continued eating her pasta.

"You finally say my cooking is delicious!" Kakashi beamed and followed her suit on eating his pasta.

"Meh, yours still not better than mine though." Sakura waved her hand in the air, dismissing Kakashi's comment playfully.

They ate their pasta in silence, both busy with their own thoughts until Sakura suddenly spoke up to Kakashi. "You do know that one of my teammates is an Uchiha, don't you?" She said while putting her plate of empty pasta back on the coffee table.

"Well, yes I do know." Kakashi replied quietly, putting his plate of pasta back on the coffee table. He didn't like where this was going.

"That's why this morning you didn't gave me any details on why I was called to Shishou's office like you usually did." Sakura said quietly. Sakura eyes' bore into Kakashi's with analytical gaze. "I know what happen to them, Kakashi." Kakashi just stared back calmly at Sakura. Sakura clearly remember the look on her shishou's eyes when she called Sasuke. And the look Kakashi gave her now. 'So calm, yet I can't read anything from his eyes.' Sakura thought.

"Humor me, Sakura" Kakashi was serious. "Besides, that's a classified information." Kakashi stared into his sister's eyes, trying to figure out whatever she had found out about the classified information.

"Yes, I'm aware of that. Listen. I won't tell him for what happen to his cousin and brother, okay." Sakura finally gave up under Kakashi's gaze. "Not now, at least." Sakura continued, eyes boring into Kakashi's.

"I don't want it to distract you Sakura." Kakashi answered. He didn't want Sakura to know that just yet. "But, It seems, you know Uchiha's secret." Kakashi said softly. "I don't know when or how did you get that information, but" Kakashi paused. "You'd better not tell people you know about that."

"You don't have to worry, I don't want to be targeted. I'm not stupid." Sakura shrugged and stood up, picking their plates and went to the kitchen for cleaning.

Kakashi watched his little sister back from the kitchen and went to her bedroom to sleep. Now, he has a lot of homework to do. Like, reminding Tsunade of her security systems. "I hope Pakkun is here." He mumbled to himself. "Why did he had to go ill and must be treated in the wrong time?!" He growled in frustration and went inside his bedroom to sleep.

* * *

Ring Ring Ring Ring Ri-

"Hello?" Sakura's sleepy voice rang through her small yet comfortable room. Her eyes was trying to focused on seeing what time is it on her alarm clock on her bedside table.

(Sakura, it's me, Tsunade.)

"My God, Shishou, your reason better be good, this is 3 a.m. in the morning!" Sakura half-yelled to the phone.

(Geez, calm down. Emergency room unit one needed an operation immediately.)

"What!" Sakura was so shock that she finally regained her composure. She wasn't sleepy anymore. "Is it the usual? I'll go wake Kakashi up, we'll be there in 15 minutes." Sakura said while untangled herself from her blanket, almost face planted herself onto her bedroom floor in the proccess. "Shit!" She cursed. "Sorry Shishou, I got tripped." She said apologetically to her shishou while rushing to open her bedroom door and sprinted to Kakashi's.

(Apology accepted, Sakura. And I'm afraid it's not the usual. At least five bullets are inside his body now. I expect you to be here less than fifteen minutes.)

"Oh." Sakura's face was drained from its usual healthy color. "Right away, Shishou." She ended her phone call and went barging into Kakashi's room. "Kakashi, wake up! Emergency room unit one!" She yelled loudly while taking Kakashi's coat from his dresser.

Kakashi jump out from his bed, like he wasn't sleeping at all. "Time?" he asked curtly.

"Fifteen minutes. Less. Grab this!" Sakura threw Kakashi's coat and ran to her own room to get her own coat and some ready-to-grab supply from her room.

Kakashi directly wore his coat and jeans, grabbed his car key, then ran straight to his apartment parking lot. He saw Sakura from the corner of his eyes, locking their apartment door and follow him afterwards. They got into the car at the same time and Kakashi immediately drove the car off at full speed. They didn't waste any time. As soon as they arrived, they went straight to Emergency Room unit one in the first floor.

Knock-Knock

"Come in!" Tsunade stated. "You arrived on time. Good." Tsunade stated as Kakashi and Sakura came into the emergency room, fully clothed as surgeon. "He's in a critical condition, I'll explain later. I already pull out a bullet, four more to go, Kakashi, you go meet Shikamaru outside, make sure he's not followed here!" Tsunade ordered Kakashi.

"Hai."

"Come help me, Sakura." Tsunade called Sakura and continued the operation.

* * *

"What happened Shikamaru?" Kakashi asked.

"He tried to protect his daugther. Apparently, that daughter is Ino's friend, they were having some girls night or so." Shikamaru answered lazily.

"Ino called you for help. What about the perpetrator?" Kakashi sat down beside Shikamaru.

"It's the Akatsuki, I still don't know what do they want from her or her family. The perpetrator escaped when I arrived there after a few minutes fighting with Ino. Then the mansion exploded, right after we got into the car to bring her father here."

"I see. Ino is comforting that daughter?"

"Troublesome..."

* * *

"Tsunade-shishou, the fourth bullet has poison..." Sakura stated weakly.

"Shit. It's already spreading, Sakura, bring this fourth bullet and the extracted poison to the mini lab for testing!" Tsunade barked an order. Her eyes were furious. "Sakura, you go test the poison, Shizune and I will continue the operation!"

"Hai!"

Sakura wasted no time in testing out the poison. She put some of extracted poison from the fourth bullet into a tube, added a body part of newly killed mouse, closed it tightly, and put it into a cold water. The poison started reacting, the dead mouse's body part began burned slowly. The poison reacted faster with water cold environment. She immediately put the tube above a mini stove and the heat immediately slowing the burning. "What a great poison to be used in Autumn." Sakura stated disgustingly. Then she rushed back into the operation room next door, turning off the air conditioner and turning on the heater at max. "It reacts faster with cold. I'll try to find the antidote." Sakura stated, then head back to the mini lab next door.

"I can't believe this, what kind of poison is that? I hope it's not too late." Sakura murmured while continuing to test the poison with various liquids and substances she found in the lab. "Shit, strong acid eat the poison immediately, but there's no way a human body can stand to strong acid!" Sakura almost yelled, frustrated. She continued her reasearch again, using various dried herbs this time.

"Sakura?" Tsunade opened the mini lab door carefully. "The operation was success. His condition is stable right now. At this rate, as long as we keep him in the right temperature, he'll live up to two weeks." Tsunade explained and sat on an empty experiment table.

"You can always sit on the chair, Shishou." Sakura said as she stopped from her work and faced her mentor. "I'm afraid that is not the only problem. The poison is really corrosive in cold temperature. It burns flesh. Heat only slowing it down. That means, we only have a few days to make the antidote, one week is maximum, before his organ can't be saved anymore." Sakura eyed Tsunade straightly.

"I see, no less expected from an Akatsuki member, huh..." Tsunade eyed her student weakly. "Sometimes, Sakura I feel like I wanted to retire..."

"Shishou..." Sakura eyed Tsunade softly. "You need a vacation, even if it's only for a day."

"You know I can't do that, kid."

"Oh, come on, let's go to the spa and shopping next weekend!" Sakura tried to cheer Tsunade up.

"I am afraid it can't be done, Sakura. I'll send you and your team to an investigation mission."

"But, what about the poison, Shishou?"

"That's what you exactly going to investigate. Your team and and Shikamaru will work together to investigate the reasons and akatsuki who is behind all of this mess. Ino will help you with the poison."

"I see"

"Continue your poison discovery, Ino will come here shortly to help you. The mission briefing will be this morning at seven o'clock."

"Hai."

* * *

to be continued on the next chapters!

Thank you for reading. Leave any review for any thoughts you might have regarding my story :)


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